Chapter 102: The Underwater Town

Only then did they see that Ruan Qingtan's lower half had actually turned into a large pink fish tail.

Coin-sized scales covered it, sparkling with gorgeous light in the icy‑blue water.

Lin Yifan instinctively lowered his head to look at himself; sure enough, his legs had also turned into a thick fish tail.

However, the color differed from Ruan Qingtan's—his was silvery white, overall filled with metallic luster, looking very defensive at a glance.

And when he slightly twitched his legs, one could see the tail fin on his fish tail gently swaying in the water, so flexible it was hard to imagine, as if he were born with a fish tail.

Hong Shaoqiang and Xiao Hudie also grew fish tails.

Hong Shaoqiang's fish tail was deep purple, while Xiao Hudie's was light purple.

One has to say, this world is quite humanized—even though they've turned into merfolk, father and son still retain the physical traits of their blood relation.

"What... what is going on?" Lin Yifan was somewhat bewildered, but quickly calmed down.

Needless to say, this is definitely a special setting of the instance.

The purpose is to let them adapt to the underwater environment, so he calmly spoke:

"It seems the rule of this instance is to turn us into merfolk for easier movement underwater."

He then quickly added: "Everyone, don't panic first; get used to the new body and see if we can swim freely."

After discovering their bodily changes, Hong Shaoqiang and Ruan Qingtan were initially a bit panicked, but soon calmed down as well.

Hong Shaoqiang tried swaying his tail and found his movements a bit clumsy, but he could indeed move in the water.

Ruan Qingtan, however, appeared more agile; her fish tail fluttered lightly, and her body rotated elegantly in the water.

"This feeling... is quite wonderful." Ruan Qingtan couldn't help laughing, "I never imagined I could become a mermaid one day."

And Xiao Hudie was overjoyed to the point of being beside herself, cheering while swimming around the others:

"Wow! Dad, brother, sister, I've become a mermaid! I actually became a mermaid!"

"In fairy tales, mermaids are spirits of the sea; they can not only sing beautiful songs but also use magic."

"Unfortunately, I can't do magic, nor can I sing beautifully..."

"Alright, Xiao Hudie, quickly go to your sister Qingtan's side and don't run around randomly!" Hong Shaoqiang hurriedly pulled Xiao Hudie back and tucked her beside Ruan Qingtan.

Ruan Qingtan's mood was not bad; after swimming two circles while swaying her fish tail, she laughed and said:

"We don't usually get a chance to be mermaids; this rare opportunity is worth experiencing, and it's quite nice!"

"But we shouldn't just keep playing; we need to find the instance's goal quickly, as instance time ticks down second by second." Lin Yifan reminded, "Since we've entered the underwater world, the instance's task should be somewhere in this body of water."

Hong Shaoqiang nodded, gripping his axe tightly; although he had turned into a merman, his combat awareness remained sharp, and he stayed vigilant.

However, he obviously submitted from the heart to Lin Yifan's captaincy, still handing over the initiative to him and asked:

"Captain Lin, which direction do you think we should go?"

Lin Yifan looked around and found that although the water was clear, the visibility wasn't wide; the clear range was only about ten‑odd meters, beyond which it became very blurry.

Especially the northwestern water, which appeared somewhat dim, as if some unknown danger lurked there.

At this moment, while in the water, their innate land‑based sense of direction disappeared entirely.

Lin Yifan's instinct was to head downward, but now he realized he could no longer tell which direction actually led to the bottom.

This made him momentarily irritable, but just then Lin Yifan suddenly noticed a phantom arrowhead appearing out of nowhere before his eyes.

And the direction the arrowhead pointed was exactly that dark patch of water.

Only then did he recall that the lucky buff he had drawn today was related to pathfinding—the 【Pathfinding Spirit】.

The arrowhead now appearing before his eyes should be the effect of his 【Pathfinding Spirit】 buff.

He then pointed at that direction and said firmly:

"My sixth sense tells me to swim that way."

Although referring to a sixth sense sounds far‑fetched, Lin Yifan had no intention of honestly revealing his talent.

Even with the closest people, one must always keep a few trump cards to remain invincible.

Fortunately, Hong Shaoqiang and Ruan Qingtan blindly trusted his judgment, so even if his basis was extremely far‑fetched, they raised no objections.

After the three of them organized their formation on the spot, they began swimming toward the direction Lin Yifan pointed.

Although they had just become merfolk and their movements were not yet proficient, as time passed they gradually mastered the skill of swimming in water.

Lin Yifan swam in the lead, his great axe ready at hand to deal with any sudden situation.

Hong Shaoqiang followed behind, axe gripped in hand, vigilantly observing the surroundings.

Ruan Qingtan swam in the middle with Xiao Hudie, her short blade and mini crossbow also ready to strike at any moment.

After swimming for about ten‑odd minutes, they finally arrived at that dark light zone.

Upon entering the dark light zone, Lin Yifan and the others discovered an unknown pressure pressing down on them, constantly pushing them downward.

No matter how hard they flapped their fish tails, they still couldn't stop their bodies from sinking.

After Lin Yifan realized he couldn't prevent his body from sinking, he simply steadied his posture, face full of vigilance, and said to the two behind him:

"Everyone be careful; this should be the place we're looking for. Stay as close to me as possible—we can't scatter, or it'll be too dangerous."

"Understood!"

Upon hearing this, Hong Shaoqiang and Ruan Qingtan quickly steadied their postures, pulling Xiao Hudie closer to Lin Yifan.

The three of them surrounded Xiao Hudie in the middle, forming an encirclement.

At this moment, the pressure weighing on them grew ever heavier, and their sinking speed increased accordingly.

Soon they could barely see the schools of fish swimming past; at this moment, time felt extraordinarily long.

After an unknown amount of time, they saw a large expanse of waterweed, swaying with the waves like water monsters, twisting into various shapes.

It was only then that Lin Yifan understood why this place was a dark light zone—because of these waterweeds.

Through the waterweed, they finally found that lost underwater town!

No, it cannot be called a town!

It can be said that this is the ruins of a small town!

Because the former town now only has some dilapidated buildings and collapsed walls left.

Waterweeds filled the ruins, and occasionally a few strange fish swam through.

Although it was clearly a silent, soundless ruin, Lin Yifan couldn't help but feel a sense of heart‑pounding dread when he looked at it.

It seemed as if a terrifying danger lurked within this ruin.

"It seems this is that lost small town." Lin Yifan said in a low voice, "Everyone be careful; there might be resentful spirits or traps here."

Just as his words fell, a low growl suddenly came from the ruins.

Immediately after, several huge black shadows darted out from the ruins, rushing straight at them.

"What is that?" Ruan Qingtán exclaimed in shock, a flash of fear crossing her face.

Because the black shadows were truly enormous, huge enough to be said to block out the sky and sun.

The oppressive feeling brought by those huge creatures made even Lin Yifan unable to help feeling heart‑pounding, let alone Ruan Qingtán, who was still a girl.